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Indiana farmer, 1888, v. 23, no. 38 (Sept. 22)

Page 1

70L. XXIH.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, SEPT. 22,1888.
NO. 38
r-ntm lor the Indiana Farmer.
SOIENOE AND FARMIHG.
•rofessor Staler Shows by Numerous Interesting Illustrations How Science
is Benefiting Agriculture,
1, Influence of Science T/po* Modern Industry— Pro-
rtn in the Art of Weather Foretelling—The Chemist
In Shown the Effect of Different Crops Upon the
Tilie of Soil for Tillage—The Supply of the Guano
ui Other Natural Manures Exhausted—Science ^has
Cimi to the Bescne of the Farmer With Artificial
ul Mineral Fertilizers—The Establishment of Experimental Stations in Different Farts of the Coun-
lt.7 by tee Government Would Greatly Help the
I Science of Agriculture.
[Copyrighted by the Author.] t
I The influence of science on modern in-
|hstry is felt In all the arts. In some of
iem, as in medicine, the effect has been
tamediate and profound; indeed,we may
^revolutionary in its nature. In others,
jin mining, the influence of this branch
1 learning, though less conspicuous, has
m extremely influential. Practical
:owledge in such work is so interwoven
ill the results of pure learning that it is
I'd to separate the profits which are due
each, but even the men who work most
: tradition in the under earth have
oed to prize the knowledge which
•as from the school and the laboratory
dto'avail themselves of "it. In other
spartments, as in agriculture, the effects
' pure science are less conspicuous; in-
;*di we may say that they have been less
3cient than in any other division of hu-
aa industry. The reasons for this fail-
-tof the farmer to profit by research in
-«measure in which his fellow laborers
J other fields have benefited by it are
"fly seen. The conditions under which
■'works have been the subject of aprac-
-<*1 experiment on a large scale for a
-nger time than those in any other detriment of industry. They depend in
-'main on the nature of organic life, on
~9 original composition of soils and on
^uncontrollable element of climate.
fctfd as are these conditions it is easily
!/8een tnat tn6 methods of a laboratory
f pure science in general have already
^emuch to help the tiller in his tasks
that there is a promise of larger profits
•J we time to come. From the biologist
^breeder of animals has learned how to
r1 w"h a number of destructive diseases,
i of Pasteur have alone been
: to enable him to deal with cer-
Ueryserio^ ma.la.dies. The method
^ Teflon to prevent the ravages of
lections disease has enabled the sheep
r^M-sof Australia to contend against
*,malady which promised to make their
IT*? ^profitable. By similar studies
r^"16 leases which affect silk worms
<thaSiaff°rded an admirable protection
-in|L,?teresta of those engaged in that
*roin try' and u hls conclusions con-
w8 hydrophobia are borne out by
eJ^ he wiU remove one of the
"*Mch now beset life. The scien-
*^ch fftm6nt of the ordlntu7 diseases
the aH animals has vastly redounded
^onk tsge of our stock breeders.
;mfit }h M y9t the farmer has but little
U.T,[°m the gain in skill oftheveteri-
:,*ilih!there can be no doubt in time
■; ETa *Me to take fuller advantage of
=«ritaacn study of the principles of ln-
fres r,rr! Wbich ^^ begun by Mr. Darwin
^.DW1?90' profit ^ the near future.
^'ifio researches were of a purely
'''••ten, nature and ye' following in his
W. pra°tical * ■ •
Wnit>quiri,
*l4sh
the
men are now at work
lesastothe conditions under
^Ute"8 8°odand evil features ofani-
i'««Q.raMPerpetUated whlch Promiseln
"*■ heed *° °0me to S1™ to the Drao'
!m:_6r admirable resources in the
1 of his art.
Thirty years ago if we had searched the
fields of science in order to find an occupation where investigators were amusing
themselves with inquiries into matters
not likely to prove profitable to the agriculturist, we should probably have chosen
the science of meteorology. The sailor, it
is true, has already had hts gain from the
extension of inquiries as'to the laws of atmospheric movement but the laws of the
winds of the ocean currents seemed matters very far away from the interests of
the farm. Rapidly, however, the knowledge gained in these purely uncommercial inquiries took shape in the art of
weather foretelling. Already over a large
part of the United States the tiller of the
soil may learn with an approximation to
certainty the character of the weather he
has to expect for a day or two after the
time of the Signal Service announcements.
Although this system leaves much to be
desired,much which we may hope to compass from the extension of our abstract
knowledge concerning the laws of the atmosphere, the profit which it has already
given to the farmer, may be measured by
millions of dollars annually. A close
study of the facts will probably show that
this gain in information was worth some
cents per acre in each year to every farmer
who makes avail of it. He can plan his
labor, the work of seeding, of harvest and
tillage, with the better discretion if he
knows with the chance of about ten to
one what the morrow's sky is iikely to
give to him.
It is, however, chiefly in matters which
concern the management of the soil that
science has done service to the tiller. The
progress of chemical knowledge has
enabled us to determine with accuracy the
amount of waste which is brought about
by crops of different character and the
methods »by which the loss can most
easily be replaced. As yet the chemist
can do little to determine the actual value
of soil for tillage. So much depends upon
the mechanical condition of the earth that
even where the chemist finds those substances which should give fertility the tiller may have a scant harvest to repay his
pains. It is mainly through the development of artificial manures that chemical
skill has come to the aid of the farmer.
At the beginning of this century we appear to be in face of a very grave problem
concerning the future of agriculture. It
was recognized that all cropping means
the inevitable exhaustion of the soil in
certain of its most important components,
Potash, soda and above all, phosphate of
lime were recognized as substances, never
present in large quantities in any soil,
and liable to exhaustion with long continuous culture. Barnyard manure, ashes,
bones and other long used restorers of fertility were evidently not to be had in sufficient quantities to meet the growing
needs of refreshment. It seemed possible
that the fields of Europe and of America
might in a few centuries undergo that
sterilizing process which had lowered the
fertility of many Asiatic lands.
Great areas in Persia and India have evidently become reduced in tillage value by
long continued cultivation without the advantage of refreshment, which we now
obtain from our access to mineral manures. This is a fate which necessarily
awaits nearly all soils when they depend
solely on domestic manures for the restoration of the rarer elements removed by
the crops.
The guano deposits found on oceanic
islands in regions of scanty rainfall for a
time afforded a means of restoring the
most essential materials which cropping
removes from the soil. These supplies
were made serviceable for some decades,
but unhappily, though the store of guano
was large, the demand was so great that
in a few years the material was exhausted,
At this stage the laboratory gave its great
est contribution to agriculture by showing that certain minerals, which exist in
large quantities in many lands, afford materials by which, at relatively small cost,
the plants may be supplied with potash,
soda and what is more important, with
the rarer element phosphorus.
To the combined work of the geologist
and chemist we owe this precious gift of
mineral manures. As yet we are at the
beginning of the scientific inquiry which
will show us the full measure of these resources in the way of mineral fertilizers.
It is scarcely more than a score of years
since they began to find a place in our agricultural processes. The South Carolina
deposits, which for more than a decade
have been the principal source of supply,
abounded in the fields and along the
shores which had been tilled for a century, and yet the value of the material
was not recognized until a cbemist.guided
by a pnrely scientific curiosity, undertook
to determine what was the composition of
the peculiar nodules which met his eye.
To this inquiry, guided by no commercial
motives whatsoever, we owe the discovery
of this resource, which has afforded many
million tons of phosphatic matter. At the
present time in this country alone the
manufacture of artificial manures, which
have these phosphates for their most essential ingredient, amounts to a value of
more than $30,000,000 annually, and it Is
evident that the industry is but.at the beginning.
It seems likely that the best gifts of science to agriculture will consist in the extension of our knowledge concerning the
sources whence supplies of rock manures
may bo drawn. Asyetin the United States
we have had but one important source of
such materials brought to knowledge,
viz: that of South Carolina and some
of the neighboring States. There is
much reason, however, to suppose that a
careful search will show us such materials to exist in many other regions. It is
clearly of much importance to our agricultural interests that all the information
which can be obtained should speedily be
brought to public knowledge. At present
the financial prosperity of this country
depends intimately on the ^large exports
of food products which we make to other
lands. Our grain exports go mostly from
the newly occupied lands in the Mississippi Valley and on the Pacific coast. As
is well known these soils when first used
for agriculture contained a store of plant
food which had been in preparation during many thousand years, and which we
rapidly convert into grain and send to
foreign lands. With each crop the yield
diminished until, in a score or two years,
the soil no longer brings the half of its
original return. Much the same condition exists in our cotton culture. Our
large annual product is now in good part
due to the fact that, by artificial manures
drawn from geological deposits, the tiller
is able to maintain the fertility of his
fields.
An inquiry such as this which is designed systematically to search the underground realm for sources of artificial manures cannot be undertaken by individual
enterprise, nor should it be left to chance
research. It needs the systematic effort
extended over the fields until the whole
country is covered, such as can only be
afforded by the services of the National
Geological Survey. It is one of the advantages which we may anticipate from the
extension of that Survey, over the whole
of the area of this country, that it will determine the sources of supply by which
our soils may be made to endure the tax
we put upon them.
There is yet another line in which agriculture may hope to receive in the years
to come important aid from government
action. The system of experimental stations has long been advocated in Congress
and it seems likely that such establishments will be set in operation at the next
reunion of that body. The advantage of
such stations is that they may undertake
preliminary experiments concerning the
tillage of new crops; of variations in the
method of treating the soil without reference to immediate profit. Such experiments are beyond . the reach of the ordinary farmer, desirable as it is that in establishing these stations the "log rolling"
motive, which so far, prevails in Congress,
may lead to the founding of a weakly provided station in each of the several States,
when in fact we need for this country
probably not more than a half dozen establishments, carefully placed with reference to its diversities of climate, of soil
and therefore of natural products. One
such station for New England, another for
the Middle Atlantic States, a third
for the Gulf, a fourth for the
States of the upper Mississippi region,
a fifth for the area of the great continental
plains, a sixth for the Pacific coast or perhaps two for that region would serve better, if well endowed and maintained, to
accomplish the end in view, than 40 smaller stations scattered one in each State. It
will be impossible on sudden demand to
afford men,even if the resources of Europe
should be drawn upon, who should be fit
to conduct the experiments at such stations in a skillful and trustworthy manner
in a way to combine the work of the practical man with that of the pure investigator.
As this undertaking should be in the
real interest of the tiller, and not for the
gratification of State pride, it is well that
the will of those who are to profit by it, if
profit is to be had, should be heard from
before the plans are completed. If very
many stations are founded the danger is
that the annual appropriations will not be
sufficient to maintain any of them in an
efficient condition for the work which they
should do.
Sow the Best and Cleanest Seed.
Wheat, rye and grass seed are the principal crops sown in the fall, and with
these, two items are important: One is to
use clean seed, and the other is to have
seed of the very best quality. It is true,
that trashy seed can be sown either broadcast, or with a drill, but at the same time,
when trash is being sown, good seed is
not, and it h. more difficult to secure a
good wheat stand with trashy, unclean
seed. It is very important to secure a
good stand, both in grass and grain, if the
best yield is to be obtained, and it is important that grass seed be sown early to
obtain this. In a majority of cases in sowing unclean seed, more or less weed seed
is sown, and this is something always to
be avoided.
A strong, vigorous plant is an important item in securing the best yield, and
good seed is necessary to obtain this. It
is not only necessary that the seed should
contain sufficient vitality to germinate,
but that the plant it sends forth should be
strong and vigorous, and be able to make
a good start to grow.# If this is done, the
seed must be of the best quality. Good
soil, well-prepared, good seed, properly
sown, and thorough cultivation in good
season, are what may be termed the true
essentials of a good crop, and generally in
proportion as these are given, will be the
results secured. Each is important in it-
sel', and a failure to give either will affect
the result. The difference in the cost between good seed, and that of a poor qual-,
ity, is a small item it comparison with
the risk in the results to be secured. In
addition to this, the use of poor seed aids
very materially to lower the quality of the
product, and to cause the seed to run out,
while on the other hand, a very careful selection, and usiDg of the very best will
aid very materially to gradually improve
1 it.—Prairie Fanner.

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Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes.

70L. XXIH.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, SEPT. 22,1888.
NO. 38
r-ntm lor the Indiana Farmer.
SOIENOE AND FARMIHG.
•rofessor Staler Shows by Numerous Interesting Illustrations How Science
is Benefiting Agriculture,
1, Influence of Science T/po* Modern Industry— Pro-
rtn in the Art of Weather Foretelling—The Chemist
In Shown the Effect of Different Crops Upon the
Tilie of Soil for Tillage—The Supply of the Guano
ui Other Natural Manures Exhausted—Science ^has
Cimi to the Bescne of the Farmer With Artificial
ul Mineral Fertilizers—The Establishment of Experimental Stations in Different Farts of the Coun-
lt.7 by tee Government Would Greatly Help the
I Science of Agriculture.
[Copyrighted by the Author.] t
I The influence of science on modern in-
|hstry is felt In all the arts. In some of
iem, as in medicine, the effect has been
tamediate and profound; indeed,we may
^revolutionary in its nature. In others,
jin mining, the influence of this branch
1 learning, though less conspicuous, has
m extremely influential. Practical
:owledge in such work is so interwoven
ill the results of pure learning that it is
I'd to separate the profits which are due
each, but even the men who work most
: tradition in the under earth have
oed to prize the knowledge which
•as from the school and the laboratory
dto'avail themselves of "it. In other
spartments, as in agriculture, the effects
' pure science are less conspicuous; in-
;*di we may say that they have been less
3cient than in any other division of hu-
aa industry. The reasons for this fail-
-tof the farmer to profit by research in
-«measure in which his fellow laborers
J other fields have benefited by it are
"fly seen. The conditions under which
■'works have been the subject of aprac-
-quiri,
*l4sh
the
men are now at work
lesastothe conditions under
^Ute"8 8°odand evil features ofani-
i'««Q.raMPerpetUated whlch Promiseln
"*■ heed *° °0me to S1™ to the Drao'
!m:_6r admirable resources in the
1 of his art.
Thirty years ago if we had searched the
fields of science in order to find an occupation where investigators were amusing
themselves with inquiries into matters
not likely to prove profitable to the agriculturist, we should probably have chosen
the science of meteorology. The sailor, it
is true, has already had hts gain from the
extension of inquiries as'to the laws of atmospheric movement but the laws of the
winds of the ocean currents seemed matters very far away from the interests of
the farm. Rapidly, however, the knowledge gained in these purely uncommercial inquiries took shape in the art of
weather foretelling. Already over a large
part of the United States the tiller of the
soil may learn with an approximation to
certainty the character of the weather he
has to expect for a day or two after the
time of the Signal Service announcements.
Although this system leaves much to be
desired,much which we may hope to compass from the extension of our abstract
knowledge concerning the laws of the atmosphere, the profit which it has already
given to the farmer, may be measured by
millions of dollars annually. A close
study of the facts will probably show that
this gain in information was worth some
cents per acre in each year to every farmer
who makes avail of it. He can plan his
labor, the work of seeding, of harvest and
tillage, with the better discretion if he
knows with the chance of about ten to
one what the morrow's sky is iikely to
give to him.
It is, however, chiefly in matters which
concern the management of the soil that
science has done service to the tiller. The
progress of chemical knowledge has
enabled us to determine with accuracy the
amount of waste which is brought about
by crops of different character and the
methods »by which the loss can most
easily be replaced. As yet the chemist
can do little to determine the actual value
of soil for tillage. So much depends upon
the mechanical condition of the earth that
even where the chemist finds those substances which should give fertility the tiller may have a scant harvest to repay his
pains. It is mainly through the development of artificial manures that chemical
skill has come to the aid of the farmer.
At the beginning of this century we appear to be in face of a very grave problem
concerning the future of agriculture. It
was recognized that all cropping means
the inevitable exhaustion of the soil in
certain of its most important components,
Potash, soda and above all, phosphate of
lime were recognized as substances, never
present in large quantities in any soil,
and liable to exhaustion with long continuous culture. Barnyard manure, ashes,
bones and other long used restorers of fertility were evidently not to be had in sufficient quantities to meet the growing
needs of refreshment. It seemed possible
that the fields of Europe and of America
might in a few centuries undergo that
sterilizing process which had lowered the
fertility of many Asiatic lands.
Great areas in Persia and India have evidently become reduced in tillage value by
long continued cultivation without the advantage of refreshment, which we now
obtain from our access to mineral manures. This is a fate which necessarily
awaits nearly all soils when they depend
solely on domestic manures for the restoration of the rarer elements removed by
the crops.
The guano deposits found on oceanic
islands in regions of scanty rainfall for a
time afforded a means of restoring the
most essential materials which cropping
removes from the soil. These supplies
were made serviceable for some decades,
but unhappily, though the store of guano
was large, the demand was so great that
in a few years the material was exhausted,
At this stage the laboratory gave its great
est contribution to agriculture by showing that certain minerals, which exist in
large quantities in many lands, afford materials by which, at relatively small cost,
the plants may be supplied with potash,
soda and what is more important, with
the rarer element phosphorus.
To the combined work of the geologist
and chemist we owe this precious gift of
mineral manures. As yet we are at the
beginning of the scientific inquiry which
will show us the full measure of these resources in the way of mineral fertilizers.
It is scarcely more than a score of years
since they began to find a place in our agricultural processes. The South Carolina
deposits, which for more than a decade
have been the principal source of supply,
abounded in the fields and along the
shores which had been tilled for a century, and yet the value of the material
was not recognized until a cbemist.guided
by a pnrely scientific curiosity, undertook
to determine what was the composition of
the peculiar nodules which met his eye.
To this inquiry, guided by no commercial
motives whatsoever, we owe the discovery
of this resource, which has afforded many
million tons of phosphatic matter. At the
present time in this country alone the
manufacture of artificial manures, which
have these phosphates for their most essential ingredient, amounts to a value of
more than $30,000,000 annually, and it Is
evident that the industry is but.at the beginning.
It seems likely that the best gifts of science to agriculture will consist in the extension of our knowledge concerning the
sources whence supplies of rock manures
may bo drawn. Asyetin the United States
we have had but one important source of
such materials brought to knowledge,
viz: that of South Carolina and some
of the neighboring States. There is
much reason, however, to suppose that a
careful search will show us such materials to exist in many other regions. It is
clearly of much importance to our agricultural interests that all the information
which can be obtained should speedily be
brought to public knowledge. At present
the financial prosperity of this country
depends intimately on the ^large exports
of food products which we make to other
lands. Our grain exports go mostly from
the newly occupied lands in the Mississippi Valley and on the Pacific coast. As
is well known these soils when first used
for agriculture contained a store of plant
food which had been in preparation during many thousand years, and which we
rapidly convert into grain and send to
foreign lands. With each crop the yield
diminished until, in a score or two years,
the soil no longer brings the half of its
original return. Much the same condition exists in our cotton culture. Our
large annual product is now in good part
due to the fact that, by artificial manures
drawn from geological deposits, the tiller
is able to maintain the fertility of his
fields.
An inquiry such as this which is designed systematically to search the underground realm for sources of artificial manures cannot be undertaken by individual
enterprise, nor should it be left to chance
research. It needs the systematic effort
extended over the fields until the whole
country is covered, such as can only be
afforded by the services of the National
Geological Survey. It is one of the advantages which we may anticipate from the
extension of that Survey, over the whole
of the area of this country, that it will determine the sources of supply by which
our soils may be made to endure the tax
we put upon them.
There is yet another line in which agriculture may hope to receive in the years
to come important aid from government
action. The system of experimental stations has long been advocated in Congress
and it seems likely that such establishments will be set in operation at the next
reunion of that body. The advantage of
such stations is that they may undertake
preliminary experiments concerning the
tillage of new crops; of variations in the
method of treating the soil without reference to immediate profit. Such experiments are beyond . the reach of the ordinary farmer, desirable as it is that in establishing these stations the "log rolling"
motive, which so far, prevails in Congress,
may lead to the founding of a weakly provided station in each of the several States,
when in fact we need for this country
probably not more than a half dozen establishments, carefully placed with reference to its diversities of climate, of soil
and therefore of natural products. One
such station for New England, another for
the Middle Atlantic States, a third
for the Gulf, a fourth for the
States of the upper Mississippi region,
a fifth for the area of the great continental
plains, a sixth for the Pacific coast or perhaps two for that region would serve better, if well endowed and maintained, to
accomplish the end in view, than 40 smaller stations scattered one in each State. It
will be impossible on sudden demand to
afford men,even if the resources of Europe
should be drawn upon, who should be fit
to conduct the experiments at such stations in a skillful and trustworthy manner
in a way to combine the work of the practical man with that of the pure investigator.
As this undertaking should be in the
real interest of the tiller, and not for the
gratification of State pride, it is well that
the will of those who are to profit by it, if
profit is to be had, should be heard from
before the plans are completed. If very
many stations are founded the danger is
that the annual appropriations will not be
sufficient to maintain any of them in an
efficient condition for the work which they
should do.
Sow the Best and Cleanest Seed.
Wheat, rye and grass seed are the principal crops sown in the fall, and with
these, two items are important: One is to
use clean seed, and the other is to have
seed of the very best quality. It is true,
that trashy seed can be sown either broadcast, or with a drill, but at the same time,
when trash is being sown, good seed is
not, and it h. more difficult to secure a
good wheat stand with trashy, unclean
seed. It is very important to secure a
good stand, both in grass and grain, if the
best yield is to be obtained, and it is important that grass seed be sown early to
obtain this. In a majority of cases in sowing unclean seed, more or less weed seed
is sown, and this is something always to
be avoided.
A strong, vigorous plant is an important item in securing the best yield, and
good seed is necessary to obtain this. It
is not only necessary that the seed should
contain sufficient vitality to germinate,
but that the plant it sends forth should be
strong and vigorous, and be able to make
a good start to grow.# If this is done, the
seed must be of the best quality. Good
soil, well-prepared, good seed, properly
sown, and thorough cultivation in good
season, are what may be termed the true
essentials of a good crop, and generally in
proportion as these are given, will be the
results secured. Each is important in it-
sel', and a failure to give either will affect
the result. The difference in the cost between good seed, and that of a poor qual-,
ity, is a small item it comparison with
the risk in the results to be secured. In
addition to this, the use of poor seed aids
very materially to lower the quality of the
product, and to cause the seed to run out,
while on the other hand, a very careful selection, and usiDg of the very best will
aid very materially to gradually improve
1 it.—Prairie Fanner.